Pen — Defs

01 n. A feather.

1.
A feather.[Obs.]
2.
A wing.[Obs.]
3.
An instrument used for writing with ink, formerly made of a reed, or of the quill of a goose or other bird, but now also of other materials, as of steel, gold, etc. Also, originally, a stylus or other instrument for scratching or graving.
“Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock.” — Job xix. 24.
4.
Fig.: A writer, or his style; as, he has a sharp pen.
5.
The internal shell of a squid.(Zool.)
6.
A female swan; -- contrasted with cob, the male swan.(Zool.) [Prov. Eng.]

Phrases & compounds

Bow pen — See Bow-pen.

Dotting pen — a pen for drawing dotted lines.

Drawing, [or] Ruling, pen — a pen for ruling lines having a pair of blades between which the ink is contained.

Fountain pen — See under Fountain, and Geometric.

Music pen — a pen having five points for drawing the five lines of the staff.

Pen and ink — executed or done with a pen and ink; as, a pen and ink sketch.

Pen feather — A pin feather.

Pen name — See under Name.

Sea pen — a pennatula.

02 v. t. To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to compose; as, to pen a sonnet.

imp. & p. p. Penned; p. pr. & vb. n. Penning

1.
To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to compose; as, to pen a sonnet.

03 v. t. To shut up, as in a pen or cage; to confine in a small inclosure or narrow space; to coop up, or shut in; to inclose.

imp. & p. p. Penned; p. pr. & vb. n. Penning

1.
To shut up, as in a pen or cage; to confine in a small inclosure or narrow space; to coop up, or shut in; to inclose.
“Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve.” — Milton.

04 n. A small inclosure; as, a pen for sheep or for pigs.

1.
A small inclosure; as, a pen for sheep or for pigs.
“My father stole two geese out of a pen.” — Shak.
2.
A penitentiary[6]; a prison.[Slang]